Page 140 of Princess of Bael

Killing him would have freed me from this bond.

Yet losing him now would kill me right along with him.

Accepting that hurt in a way I couldn’t even begin to detail.

However, the pain in his eyes now told me he could feel that agony inside me, that it was a burden darkening our connection and piercing his heart just as much as it pierced mine.

I went to my toes and kissed him, needing to feel the rightness of our bond and not the dark past yanking me backward in time.

I wanted to join him in the now. To embrace our future. To believe in him. To be a partner. To be the counterbalance he needed to fight beside in this impending balance.

He wrapped his arms around me, lifting me into the air to sit on the counter. My legs parted for him, granting him closer access. But this wasn’t about fucking. It was about healing. It was aboutacceptance.

His mind and soul were wide open for me, proving his intentions and allowing me to experience his emotions as though they were my own.

Regret.

Sadness.

Hope.

Adoration.

Respect.

Love.

I shivered at the last one, the sensation one I immediately wanted to distrust. But our link refused to allow my instincts to shine.

Because it was right there.

Tangible.

Mine.

His heart beat for me. His focus in the world had become me.Wewere the Divinity—hisDivinity. And he would do everything in his power to protect us.

Even if that meant leaving me behind to face this battle alone.

He wouldn’t take me with him unless we could be a true team. He wouldn’t risk my life in that way. He’d sacrifice his own instead.

The old me would have embraced that, would have sent him off to die knowing I’d played him at his own game.

But this was no longer a game.

This wasus.

A fresh balance of power where age no longer mattered and experience ceased to exist.

We were a new dynamic full of intense energy and the ability to make everything right between us. We weren’t replacing Kristina or her abilities. We weren’t replacing Johanna or Lucía either.

This wasn’t about rebuilding a broken network. This was about defining a novel state of being.

His forehead met mine, his breath a pant against my lips as though he’d just finished running a marathon. Our kiss was so much deeper than a natural embrace—it waslife.

I met his burning gaze.

Stared deep into those beautiful irises of brown and gold, the edges burnt from his near death.